"Aiming by Instinct".
But you must add something for extra-challenging shots, like walking behind the OB to mark the spot with the cue tip et al, that's why aim "systems" are taught.
My aiming system is guessing....who use the Guessing System?
- Thread starter smiling_Hans
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But you must add something for extra-challenging shots, like walking behind the OB to mark the spot with the cue tip et al, that's why aim "systems" are taught.
Educated guessing or good judgement is a far cry from anything you'd call simple guess work.
Everyone knows who "Casper" the ghost is because he can be seen and created in comic books or TV. But has anyone ever seen "Casper" in real life? Actually, I have but I was wasted out of my ass on some booze or other things that go into the mouth or nose so I can't be sure what I saw or thought I saw.
Ghost ball, seeing/imagining what the CB will look like on the OB is a valid way to play the game. I know because I've done it.
But, actually seeing the Edge of the CB and the center of the CB directly on specific areas of the OB takes zero imagination at all.
It's right there every single time and in every possible scenario from straight in, to an extreme cut.
Does this make sense? If not, I don't know how to be any more clear.
Lol... this is called experience. Can't teach it to a beginner or to someone who struggles to pocket balls. Well, I suppose you can just tell them to guess, and after a few thousand misses they'll eventually start getting better at it.
oscargrouch
Active member
Here's one of the things I don't get about aiming systems that have you lining up different parts of the balls and/or pivoting/doing multiple things with the direction of your cue on the same shot:
How do you line up your body? How do you step into the shot? Seems to me if your body is lined up in the right place when you go down, you've already seen the right aim. If not, then you're adjusting your body after you're down, which by any instruction I've seen is a bad habit.
Can someone offer any insight? TIA.
How do you line up your body? How do you step into the shot? Seems to me if your body is lined up in the right place when you go down, you've already seen the right aim. If not, then you're adjusting your body after you're down, which by any instruction I've seen is a bad habit.
Can someone offer any insight? TIA.
oscargrouch
Active member
WYSIWYG. I got into the habit of air stroking the shot to test it. Stick alignment, rock through object ball alignment, cueball exit line; whatever you need to confirm your judgement. That's the easy part.
If you've done your HATB (amateur version - only requires a thousand or so balls) you have a pretty good idea of what launch position feels and looks like but you have to engineer the transition from the standing test view to the locked in launch position. I've learned to do it with a vertical drop but yes it does work best when your feet are in position through the entire process.
The cool thing about this robotic approach is I don't have to be a pool hall lizard to maintain my pocketing ability.
oscargrouch
Active member
I have no idea what you're saying.
Lol...I have no idea what you're saying.
The acronyms or the content or both? I'll be back later...
oscargrouch
Active member
LOL. Both. What is HATB? (hack at the ball?)
Are you answering my question about how to reconcile an aiming method (CTE, etc.) that includes lines that aren't necessarily the ultimate cue stroking line with positioning yourself for the ultimate cue stroking line? Or are you just explaining your aiming method?
I gotta learn that trick of seeing contact points without imagining what the shot looks like with the cue ball in place. I must have errored in my ways somewhere along the line, I always thought that was part of the "shot picture". Too many league bangers use ghost ball and I don't want to be associated with that group of players. 
You wouldn’t shit us would you?
That's a crappy thing to say.
snookered_again
Well-known member
I think the snooker balls are 2 1/16 but there maybe some in use that are 2". My vintage 1962 brunswick table which is only 33 x 66" runs 1 7/8 balls.
from wikipedia : Snooker balls are standardized at 52.5 mm (2 1⁄16 in) in diameter..
if they were bigger the table would be too crowded to be practical, the black ball would be too close to the reds. As it is my small dimension Brunswick can only run a rack of 12 not 15 like a normal 12' snooker table. Brunswick reduced the ball size to compensate for the small table size. the 1 7/8 aren't common in the US and Canada, they might be in Britain.
I don't play on the tiny diamond tables but they seem popular, it must make for a very crowded table by comparison to a more normal sized pool table due to the same problem. Diamond reduced the table size and threw things out of proportion by not also reducing the ball size proportionally. It seems many who wanted to play in 9 ball tournaments accepted it and it became commonplace and then even sort of "normal"..
so I actually use 3 sizes, 7/8 , 2 1/16, and 2 1/4
a cut shot to each, if they were all placed 3' away would be a different angle. If you think in terms of a ghost ball as the target, as the ball size changes so does the angle required for a thin cut.
I dont know what system I use, maybe somewhere between "Guess" and "Hope" ;-) I sometimes try to imagine a ghost ball and shoot for the center of that and usually it just throws me off.. same for trying to aim at the edge of a ball in a 1/2 ball shot. I can see how people are breaking that down into fractions and guaging their distance from the surface of the ball in or out, putting that to use at 12' away seems like a way of distracting myself, but maybe the idea has merit.
somehow I can do it and seem to slowly progress but I often wonder by what mechanism I improve.. I don't think Im good at taking the info from a miss and saying to myself that was too thin or too thick and then upon next turn implementing all that into self improvements.
By some unexplained mechanism we still learn.. the proof is in the improvements.
Repeating shots in drills may help self adjustments register faster because you are then using repetition and can then focus and take input on those minor adjustments. I find I get bored with that really fast but it may help if i can find a way not to just get so bored..
I keep thinking that if I can recognise and register my faults while shooting more efficiently than I do, rather than just shrugging and walking away. I should then also be able to teach mysef to learn faster.
Perhaps micro focussing on every fault can make one loose confidence too.. It might be sometimes best to just shrug it off like last weeks girlfriend and continue on, thus not loosing confidence through continuous self criticism..
I know confidence does play a big role too so it's a matter of learning but also keeping the learning in balance with play and trying to not get too caught up in it all.
I think what i do with the harder shots is just try even though I know it is reducing the chance of a win sometimes you just need ot try and see..
In snooker the number of rails you are often playing wiht both balls, and the angles involved can be a bit confusing and in time I think we work out patterns and see what works.. what can seem like a really random shot with balls running all over eventually becomes a recognizable and predictable pattern. It takes time.
snookered_again
Well-known member
i htink the general idea is that one should go look at he table from a standing position, sometimes I will note another ball or pocket or diamond that is about in line with the direction between the OB and the GB even if it's across the table..
I try as I may to translate that "standing information" about the contact point to the crouched view of the same spot.. I think I often blink or something and find myself glancing from the OB to it's target and back to the sweet spot on the OB.
I do try to plant the ball of my right foot in line with the shot before going down for the shot.. If it feels awkward I'll shift a little, maybe stand back up first..
many do go and look the OB with the pocket or target behind it as if they are able to register this sweet spot on the OB and reference it when shooting. I really dont understand how to keep that spot in perspective when you go view it from the shooting position. I think I try to mimic the others and think I'll get on to it better.. I don't use the reflection off the lights as a reference.
for something like a hook , it can help if I put myself behind the cushion Im bouncing off of and maybe see that angle better from the other side before I go to take the shot.. I wont place a cube of chalk or make a mark, but its helpful to do that.. for some reaso that seems a bit wrong.. I think its perfectly understandable for a beginner but you wont see a half decent serious player do that too often, maybe it would make them look less of a man or something ;-) Ive never herd of a rule against it but dont see it done unless its a real beginner, Maybe it's more to do with pride than some rule? ;-)
I try as I may to translate that "standing information" about the contact point to the crouched view of the same spot.. I think I often blink or something and find myself glancing from the OB to it's target and back to the sweet spot on the OB.
I do try to plant the ball of my right foot in line with the shot before going down for the shot.. If it feels awkward I'll shift a little, maybe stand back up first..
many do go and look the OB with the pocket or target behind it as if they are able to register this sweet spot on the OB and reference it when shooting. I really dont understand how to keep that spot in perspective when you go view it from the shooting position. I think I try to mimic the others and think I'll get on to it better.. I don't use the reflection off the lights as a reference.
for something like a hook , it can help if I put myself behind the cushion Im bouncing off of and maybe see that angle better from the other side before I go to take the shot.. I wont place a cube of chalk or make a mark, but its helpful to do that.. for some reaso that seems a bit wrong.. I think its perfectly understandable for a beginner but you wont see a half decent serious player do that too often, maybe it would make them look less of a man or something ;-) Ive never herd of a rule against it but dont see it done unless its a real beginner, Maybe it's more to do with pride than some rule? ;-)
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I use a chalk board to illustrate how ghost ball works when I see a student missing because they hit the wrong side of OB. This illustrates that they are not trying to roll CB to hit OB, but trying to roll CB so that it rolls over the spot of ghost ball. This generally improves their game markedly.
This theory means people give up and quit playing pool.
smiling_Hans
Well-known member
I "aim" or "guess" in reverse.I gotta learn that trick of seeing contact points without imagining what the shot looks like with the cue ball in place. I must have errored in my ways somewhere along the line, I always thought that was part of the "shot picture". Too many league bangers use ghost ball and I don't want to be associated with that group of players.
Whichever pocket I want to make the OB then I will start there.
Locate pocket then move your eyes to OB. You just found your contact point. Bend aim and shoot. Hope and pray.
I've played this game since my teens. Around 16 so I can see and feel the shots. It has also hinder me from taking it to the next level. I have tried that little 'pivot' and hitting the ball at certain sections. I don't know if it works. It could just be me subconsciously resorting back to my guessing but I can say it works. More similar to how I play if I was to choose an actual aiming system.
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oscargrouch
Active member
If you're talking strictly geometry and not throw or any other variables, how are the angles or contact points different, whether it's buckshot or basketballs?
My comments were in response to the op's statement that he uses no aiming method that he knows of, other than "instinct" or guesswork. That theory can't be taught. I said nothing about ghostball.